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Ethics Panel Investigates Free Tickets for Paterson

The State Commission on Public Integrity has begun a preliminary inquiry into the solicitation of free tickets for the opening game of the World Series by aides to Gov. David A. Paterson, an administration spokesman confirmed on Monday.

The inquiry follows revelations that a senior adviser to the governor, David Johnson, asked a Yankee official for five tickets for the game, at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Mr. Paterson attended the game along with Mr. Johnson; Mark Leinung, the deputy director of state operations; the governor’s son, Alex; and one of his son’s friends. The tickets, with a face value of $425 each, seated them a few rows behind home plate.

State law forbids officials in the executive branch from soliciting or accepting gifts of more than nominal value from any lobbyist if the gift appears intended to sway the official. The Yankees organization is registered to lobby the Paterson administration, as well as the State Legislature, in connection with financing for the stadium.

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Leinung agreed to reimburse the Yankees after the administration received inquiries from The New York Post about the tickets, said Mr. Paterson’s spokesman, Peter E. Kauffmann. Mr. Paterson, he said, would reimburse the team for the tickets for his son and his son’s friend. The Post reported its inquiries on Monday.

But Mr. Kauffmann denied that Mr. Paterson had acted inappropriately. “The governor attended Game 1 of the World Series in his official capacity, to represent the State of New York at a ceremonial occasion,” he said. “All other tickets are being paid for.”

While state ethics rules do allow some gifts accepted in connection with official duties, they appear to exclude most tickets to sporting events. An advisory opinion by the commission last year stated that attendance at events which are “substantially recreational in nature” cannot generally be considered official duties.

Though the commission, which can levy fines for ethics breaches, cannot acknowledge a continuing investigation, a spokesman, Walter Ayres, said exceptions to the ban were few.

“If the governor or another state official is invited to throw out the first pitch on opening day, or, for example, to attend the opening of the Empire State Games, that might be considered to be part of his or her official duties,” Mr. Ayres said. “Nevertheless, it always is best to check with the commission before accepting any free tickets.”

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A team spokeswoman, Alice McGillion, said that the Yankees routinely offered postseason tickets to V.I.P.’s and offered them to Mr. Paterson over the summer. Mr. Paterson’s aides did not respond to the offer until Tuesday, the day before the game, when Mr. Johnson spoke with Brian Smith, a senior vice president for corporate community relations with the Yankees, she said.

The team requires elected officials to pay the face value of such tickets unless the officials attest that they are attending in an official capacity. Before releasing the tickets, Ms. McGillion said, the Yankees received a memo from the governor’s counsel, Peter J. Kiernan, stating that Mr. Paterson would be attending “on official business.”

Mr. Kauffmann declined to comment on whether the administration believed at the time that the memo authorized the others in Mr. Paterson’s party to receive free tickets.

Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group, a watchdog group, said he was shocked that Mr. Paterson’s aides had sought and accepted the tickets.

“It’s inexplicable and I think indefensible,” he said. “The way it should work is that if the governor thinks he should get a freebie, he should ask the commission, and they will tell him.”

Yankees tickets have raised ethical questions before. In 2003, the Yankees paid a $75,000 fine, but did not admit any wrongdoing, after failing to disclose the offer of free tickets to city officials.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a die-hard Yankees fan who often attended games, also faced scrutiny over whether he had paid the team in full for tickets he obtained while in office. A spokesman for his successor, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said Mr. Bloomberg pays for his own ticket at every game he attends, period.

Fernanda Santos contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on November 3, 2009, on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Ethics Panel Investigates Free Tickets For Paterson. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe